Help to select a CPU/MB/Ram bundle for £200

Sixshot84

Sixshot84

Sixshot84

Associate
Joined
28 Jul 2014
Posts
9
Hi all,

New member looking for some advice – I’ve been trawling the net for the best forum to ask this in and OCUK seems to be by far the best :)

I think my Q6600 is dying as it’s started getting really high temps even under simple tasks so I think it’s time for an upgrade. I want a new mATX MB/CPU/Ram for under £200 ideally.

The only real power I need is for photo editing in Adobe Lightroom. Other than that I only use my desktop for media management really. So my requirements are good photo editing performance and a cool and quiet system.

I was thinking of building a system around an i5 4440 which seems to sell for around £120-130. That doesn’t leave a lot for a MB and Ram (I’d like 8gb ideally). Would I be better off going for a used IveBridge or similar? I’m not interested in overclocking really so will a budget board be ok?

Also, I only use Lightroom occasionally, it’s not part of my job or anything so I don’t need cutting edge performance, just decent performance. Would I be able to get away with a less powerful processor?

Any thoughts or specific part recommendations welcome. I’ve been out of the loop since I bought my Q6600 so I’m a bit lost!

Many thanks in advance
 
Thanks for the advice. I've read Intel are better for photo editing so would prefer an intel if possible. I'll have a look into it more though.

My case does accept full size atx too so could go that route. I was just hoping to get an mATX in case I wanted to down-size the case in the future
 
If I'm not overclocking what the disadvantages of a budget MB? I know you only get 2 ram slots which would make adding more ram more expensive but anything else? Do more expensive boards offer better fan speed management? In my current set-up I can only get the case fans to slow down with Speedfan which is annoying...

I should have also mentioned that all I'll be connecting to it is an SSD, and HDD and a DVD drive. I've got a basic passive gfx card but would get rid of that if my CPU had intergrated graphics
 
ShakeNBake said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=bu-240-ok&groupid=2833&catid=2512&subcat=2686

£198 with an i3-4330 (3.5ghz dual core with hyperthreading), 8gb ram, h81 motherboard.


won't be as powerful as ur q6600 tho.

you'll need an i5 or i7 ideally, which will cost over your £200 budget (but totally worth).
Click to expand...

thanks for the i3 recommendation. according to this the i5 is around 40% better at multi-threaded tasks but similar opn everything else:
http://www.cpu-world.com/compare/415/intel_core_i3_i3-4330_vs_intel_core_i5_i5-4440.html

I may get something along the i3 lines for now and then if I'm not happy with it I could look out for a used deal on an i5/i7 in a year or so
 
ThaReaperGuy said:
What photo editing will you be doing?
If it's nothing super demanding then no reason to not go with the AMD setup, I photoshopped regularly on a AMD Phenom, it isn't the greatest but did the job fine.
Click to expand...

Nothing major. Just using the develop module in Lightroom 4 really. I'll do some more research but I think I'm leaning towards either an i3 socket 1150 to allow an decent upgrade in the future, or an older used i5/possibly i7

thanks for all the advice guys :)
 
snips86x said:
Don't you mean 8350? There is also the 9 series but spending that money would be better on an Intel setup.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97M-D3H Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £61.99
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £52.99
Total : £204.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

Quite tempted by the G3258. I could get a decent MB with it so could add ram or a better cpu when I can afford it. To be honest, it may be fine for my needs looking at reviews.

Is it worth getting a z97 over one of the cheaper H boards that can over clock this?
 
So am I right in thinking I could get an Hxx motherboard (starting from around £35), use it to overclock the G3258. Then if I wasn't happy with the performance I could stick an i5 or something in at a later date, but wouldn't be able to overclock that (even if it's a K version), unless I got a Zxx MB?

I'm tempted to get a cheaper MB (some have fan control too by the look of it), then either just save the extra £40 or so, or possibly get 2x8gb Ram instead
 
Thanks again guys.

I think I'm going to go with the G3258 for now. My last decision is whether to go with one of the ASRock/Asus H61 boards that support OC'ing the G3258, or go with the Z97 board which has been linked to (only around £30 more), which would have more features and a better upgrade path (even to Broadwell I understand). It pushes my budget a bit though especially as I've decided I need a new powersupply too...
 
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